Dena Adler, M.A ATR is a Registered Art Therapist. She has over thirty years of experience with children and families living with loss, grief, and life hardships. In the last 15 years, Dena worked as an in-home family therapist with communities on Buffalo’s East Side and Niagara Falls, specifically for those in the child welfare system. The compassionate work focused on building circle of supports to increase permanency. Dena is Faculty and a Certified Practitioner of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine and facilitates groups and trainings for those healing from trauma and stress. For the past three years, Dena has been a part of the Mind-Body skills community initiative in Broward CO, FL supporting healing and resilience from the school shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.  Since 2005, Dena has been a volunteer providing art therapy for Project Life: War Orphans Rehabilitation Program for children and families in war-torn areas around the world. She currently resides in Rochester, NY.

Deidra EmEl is the Executive Director of the Western New York Peace Center. Deidra has been a spiritual counselor and mentor for over 20 years through the Congregation of Israel (COI) Cultural Center, of which she is a co-founder. She is a Community Health Worker, Maternal-Child Health Specialist, herbalist, childbirth educator, and doula. Deidra infuses her love for dance and the arts through her work as a community healer and activist. She believes in the interconnectedness of all living things and in the harmony and balance that must be continually worked out to maintain optimum health.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Sociology and a Certificate in Applied Sociology from Buffalo State College(2003). Deidra has been certified as a Childbirth Educator through The International Birth and Wellness Project and The International Childbirth Education Association(2009/2010), Certified Doula -Life Cycles Center(2009), and Maternal Child Health Specialist (2014). She is holistic birth activist and family advocate, and proponent of International women’s rights for over 20 years.

Carol Penn DO, MA, ABOM, FACOFP is doubly Board Certified in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine and Master movement, meditation, and mindset coach. Additionally, she has a 500 hour certification in yoga from Soma Yoga and is certified in Organ Cleansing QiGong.  She also brings her artistic sensibilities to the marriage of the arts and medicine with her background as a professionally trained dancer and choreographer with the world famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and a Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Teaching Fellow. Dr. Penn is a Fellow in the American Academy of Osteopathic Family Physicians and is Clinical Faculty with Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, the Center for Mind Body Medicine, and the Medical Moguls Academy. 

Her best selling book, Meditation In a Time of Madness, launched in 2019 as a number 1 best seller in the category of meditation and alternative medicine. She is a medical correspondent for WURD Radio in Philadelphia where she is a frequent guest and Podcastor as well as the host of her own weekly show and podcast:  Weightless in Mind, Body and Spirit.  A creative forever, she continues to direct her all volunteer women’s dance ensemble Core of Fire.

Dr. Penn sees racism as a chronic illness, and has committed her life toward its treatment and elimination. 

Sabrina N’Diaye, PhD, MDiv, LCSW-C is a therapist, storyteller, peacebuilder, and the founder of the Heart Nest Center for Peace and Healing in Baltimore, Maryland. Her approach to mental health healing is a blend of wisdom, science, and ancient spiritual practices. She is a proud lead faculty member of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, where she teaches the art of self-care to healthcare professionals and first responders around the globe.  As Center faculty, she has responded to community trauma in Las Vegas, Houston, the Pine Ridge Reservation, New York City, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, and the Capitol insurrection.  She is currently serving the Center as a teacher and guide for healing professionals in Central Asia, in the aftermath of multiple terrorist attacks. 

In the ten years prior to the pandemic,  “Sister Sabrina” landed  in Buffalo each Spring, where she was honored to teach countless mental health professionals on addictions, racism and health, and the art of self-care.

Victoria Ross, QCSW, LMSW, MALD, Dip, DHL is a justice/peace activist and social worker. Now board chair at the WNY Peace Center, she began working there in 2008 and was Executive Director 8/15-6/21. She’s previously worked as a family therapist, as well as working in economic development. Vicki’s life-long emphasis on children, families, and communities includes a focus on healing our “broken alert systems.” Her community-building work includes addressing the power imbalances and policies that must be changed for racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice. 

As an interfaith practitioner, the mind-body-spirit connection figures prominently in her healing work, as do music, dance, and the arts generally. She’s thrilled to be a part of the team, Embracing Buffalo.